Gratitude of massive proportions goes to: NatalieKFan, rakshie thiru, lovebooks4351, Awesomeperson, anonymous, and of course, my ever-so patient and amazing co-author FascinatingRhythm. You do not have any idea how patient she has been with me. Also, greetings to my friend, Karnejerie who has changed her penname to Traipeze.
I honestly don't think that this is one of my best chapters, but rest assured all of my seemingly non-important chapters are 'bridges' for the succeeding chapters. :P
DISCLAIMER:
ME: Today's special guest, Phineas and Ferb!
Phineas: Oh, hey there, AngelicSpring!
Ferb: That's a pretty odd combination.
Candace: PHINEAS!
Phineas: Oh, hey there, Candace!
Candace: What do you think you're doing?
Phines: Doing an interview with AngelicSpring.
Candace: Oooh... When Mom comes home, you guys are so BUSTED!
Phineas: Hey Ferb! I know what we're going to do today! Huh. Where's Perry?
ME: Oh boy.
I do not own The 39 Clues, Time Magazine, and whatever it is that clearly doesn't belong to me.
START.
oooooOooooo
Chapter 2
Dark.
Why is it so dark?
Beep.
Beep.
Click.
Natalie Kabra quickly regained her sleeping composure as she heard the softest clicking of an opening door and silently thanked all those years she spent with her brother in Lucian training.
Her brother.
Where is he? Where am I? Where are the others?
"Her heart rate is going faster, Alex."
Natalie tried her very best to resist the involuntary urge to panic. She breathed inconspicuously deep enough to appear sleeping, managing a peaceful and steady pace.
His companion clucked his tongue in disapproval. "What are you talking about, Victor? Can't you see the poor little girl is asleep?"The voice – Alex, perhaps – sounded sympathetic and somewhat rebuking. Natalie tried not to wrinkle her nose in disgust at being called a poor, little girl. She is nowhere near poor and she is not little either.
"Boo!" a voice boomed directly beside her ear. If she just wasn't lost in thoughts, she would've felt him getting closer and closer to her. If she just wasn't preoccupied, she would've prevented herself from emitting the slightest of flinch.
But, she did flinch.
"Wakey, wakey, Ms. Natalie Kabra," the first voice, Victor, sang out, sounding mildly amused. "You do not want things to get messy, do you?"
Natalie quickly weighed her options. Desperate times call for desperate measures. And desperate measures, most of the time, means 'winging it', as Daniel would most likely put. What should she do? Her secret is out. Besides, she won't be able to gather much information anyway by pretending to be asleep. That's it. She opened her eyes, blinked a few times and scanned her surroundings. As soon as she laid her amber orbs at the two people who thought they would be lovely company, she rolled her eyes in disgust.
"What you're wearing is simply... ugh," she complained, pointing at Victor. "Obviously bought cheap." She directed her stare at Alex, ready for her snappy commentary about how he has the most maddening voice in this godforsaken room and how his pitch is all wrong.
She choked on whatever it is she was about to say. Her eyes widened as she stared deep into that familiar shade of amber.
"You're not Ian," she bluntly stated, narrowing her eyes at Alex and keeping the sudden burst of adrenaline in her veins in check. She can't avoid allowing even the slightest ray of panic. All their blasted machineries are still stuck to her.
"No, I'm not. And that is a fact I am proud of."Alexander Ian Vesper-Hollingsworth smirked which made Natalie stiffen. That smirk looks so much like her brother's. Now that she thinks about it, every facet, every angle looks perfectly similar. Except for the hair. From where Ian Kabra has jet-black, this imposter has the oddest shade of brown.
Natalie laughed haughtily. "Of course you are. If I didn't know, you probably are some deranged lunatic with nothing better to do in life and decided it would be peachy if he looked like the Times' magazine youngest heartthrob-slash-bazillionaire –"
"I didn't know you are quite fond of your older brother, Natalie," Alex commented, cutting her off with a peculiar evil glint in his eyes. "Because if you are, then certainly Ian must be quite fond of you, too. And if he is..." His face twisted into a sadistic sneer, implying something other than the truth. "He would have come ages ago to rescue you." He theatrically looked all around them as if searching the room for an expected visitor. "But, I don't see him anywhere, do you? Pity." Alex gave her an innocent look of disappointment.
That made Natalie pause. How did he know about that? It's like he knows exactly what is on my mind. But, that's preposterous! "I'm not... that fond of him! That's what the latest surveys say!" she cried out indignantly. She flipped her hair to the side with an elegant toss of her head. "Anyway, I'm sure he and the others are on their way. Just wait and see, whoever you are, you loathsome fiend. Ian and the others will have your," she glanced at Victor who was too busy eying the proceedings keenly, "and your little friends' ashes."
Alex raised his eyebrows, surprise at her impressive outburst. Then, he succumbed into a hearty laughter. "What makes you think, my dear Natalie, that they would even come save you? I know, deep in that little and twisted heart of yours, you are not quite sure if your brother will come. And now you are expecting your 'relatives' to prepare a rescue operation for you, too?"
Natalie did not respond. She didn't know how to, exactly. She tried to swallow a forming lump in he throat.
"My, my. You are an expectant little girl, aren't you?" Victor observed, twisting his features into an insulting look of pity.
Natalie swallowed audibly. "What is that supposed to mean?" She hesitated to say more, debating whether or not she really needed (much less wanted) to hear what they mean. She has this sinking feeling in her stomach that she knows exactly what they are talking about.
Alex levelled his eyes with hers. "Do you really think people who couldn't even trust you or hated you will seriously find it in their selves to take time for you?"
And there it was. She felt that familiar – and hugely irritating – pang in her chest. That very same pain she felt during those dark times with her mother. Only this time, it seems to be... a little bit more painful. She raised a perfectly arched eyebrow at the two of them. "Don't trust me? Ian trusts me! I mean, probably not with his dia- I meant, journal. But with all other things, he trusts me quite well. When it comes to... important agenda, he lets me make decisions. Big ones! The others think I'm the most level-headed of all the younger ones and... and..."
"Oh, right!" Alex slammed his palm on his forehead, playing the part of someone who seemed to forget something utterly important. "My bad. Of course they trust you. That's why Ian forgot to tell you that you are only his 'half-sister'. That's why he forgot to tell you that he has a 'different father'. Oh, that's why he forgot to tell you that he has a 'twin brother'. I see... So that's why." He ended his speech with an understanding nod of his head.
Natalie half-listened to his declarations. But, it was enough to hear the words he particularly emphasized. Ian's only my half-brother? And what's that supposed to imply? That this... this ogre is related to him than to me? Did Ian know? Did the others know? Why didn't they tell me? "Wh-What...?"
Alex gasped in surprise, like a naughty child caught in the act of stealing. "Oh! Oh, dear. You didn't know, did you? Oh dear, oh dear. What a mess. Oh well. It doesn't matter, does it? I mean, Ian trusts you, right?"
Natalie shook her head vigorously, refusing to believe any of it. "He-He must've not known about it! Or-Or you're probably lying! That's it! You liar!" Who is this, little tactician? He plays his pieces well. Too well. A veteran manipulator.
Victor yawned loud enough to be noticed. "Just show her the video, Alex, and let's get this over with," he said lazily. "I have a date at nine o'clock..." Seeing Natalie's look of realization at what time it was, he added slyly, "Tomorrow or was it the day after that?" He chuckled conspiringly. "I'm so forgetful."
Natalie rolled her eyes at his pathetic attempt to confuse her. "What video...?"
She squinted against the sudden light from the room.
She very nearly fainted right then and there. Because on the screen, right in front of her, is the Human Chess Game in 2D.
xxxOOOxxx
Ever since the Human Chess Game thing (not to mention the recently concluded meeting and the decision made), dinner at the Cahill manor became fairly quiet save for the occasional 'Please pass the...' and 'Could you get me that...'
Tonight is no exception.
"So... how is school for you guys?" Jake said, opening any kind of conversation to ease the awkwardness of the entire situation.
"We don't go to school anymore," Hamilton answered whilst devoid of any emotion before gulping an entire glass of orange juice. He was still making a point of ignoring Sinead and Amy, childish as it may seem. If they want to take a Cahill thing to a girls-versus-boys thing, then fine. See if he freaking cares.
Sinead rolled her eyes at his 'heartfelt' desire to improve the situation.
Jake tried again. "So I heard you were hosting a Secret Santa thing, right?" Jake asked Hamilton who was busy shovelling food in his mouth.
Hamilton looked at him weirdly. "That was two months ago."
"Two months..." Jake trailed off, unsure of what to say. He was pretty sure Ian told them Hamilton was going to host a Secret Santa. Then again, Hamilton's answer made sense because Christmas was two months ago. So why did...?
Jake looked at the impassive face of Ian Kabra. His movement are strangely mechanical as if he was only doing them out of instinct. Oh, I see. "Ah..." Jake responded, choosing the awkward silence rather than the awkward conversation.
Evan cleared his throat and nervously adjusted his eyeglasses. "I bet life in this family is still as crazy as ever, huh?" he chuckled, not surprised that nobody had the heart to join him in.
Somebody's fork clattered noisily on the porcelain plate. Eyes snapped up to look at a stoic-faced Ian Kabra. "My hand slipped," he said to nobody in particular. He continued putting food in his mouth like nothing happened.
Dan rolled his eyes. "Like we would buy that," he muttered, low enough for only Atticus, who was beside him, to hear. Atticus just pursed his lips at the oddity of the situation.
Ian acted as if he hadn't heard Dan. Naturally. "To business, however," he continued, as expressionless as before. "I'm quite sure all of you know why I invited the Rosenblooms and... Tolliver..." He trailed off, an unsaid sentence hanging in the air. Although I clearly don't want to, I just desperately needed to. "I was sure that, as Daniel had commented, nobody would buy my reason of 'more the merrier' –"
His speech was interrupted by the back door opening suddenly and everything went immediately on fast-forward. Hamilton lurched to his feet and darted towards the intruder before Jake could even blink. Ian stood up, his left hand gripping a steak knife tightly. Everybody, except for the dumfounded Rosenblooms and Tolliver, went on extreme battle-defense mode.
"Easy, yo. Just me."
All of them appraised the casual-clothed gangsta in front of them. Designer cotton-white shirt and denim pants, but most especially no bling.
"Jonah!" Keightlyn and Phoenix exclaimed in elation. Phoenix ran up to him and grinned happily. His eyes glittered in excitement at this considerably small surprise. "What wind brought you here?"
Jonah Wizard ruffled his hair half-heartedly. "Just dropping by for a new change of clothes. Won't take long," he said with that all-too-familiar detached tone. He gave Phoenix one, last weary smile and headed to the direction of the dormitories.
Phoenix' face fell slightly. He had hoped, even though he knew it was sadly in vain, that Jonah could stay for the day and forget the Angelle-situation for awhile. It seemed ages ago when the two of them last sat down and played the guitar, wrote some songs and just had fun. Phoenix knows that Jonah blames himself for everything that happened to Angelle. And now that he was thinking of all those things again, he couldn't help but feel selfish.
Hamilton, now straightening from his crouched posture seconds ago, saw how crestfallen Jonah left his cousin. He opened the fridge and took a brown paper bag from it. Keightlyn recognized what it was immediately and was about to say something when Hamilton hollered, "Hey, Wizard!"
It took a few seconds before Jonah's head popped inside the room again. "What?"
"Heads up!" Hamilton chucked the paper bag at his direction. Jonah's reflexes responded and he caught it with ease. He peered inside.
Hamilton rolled his eyes. "Little Miss Blonde and Mr. Wizard here found the energy yesterday to bake something I have no idea what," he told him casually, as if they were just talking about a basketball game. "For you, apparently."
"Lemon meringue cupcake," Jonah murmured, looking at the strange lump of bread and icing inside the bag that was supposedly a cupcake.
Phoenix and Keightlyn fidgeted and played with their fingers uncomfortably. Keightlyn looked up at him shyly and said, "Angelle used to bake them as often as she could with me watching her. I did my best to remember how she makes it but..."
"We could do better," Phoenix said quickly, mistaking Jonah's silence for disgust or discontentment. "Just one more day of practice."
Something unreadable flickered across Jonah's face. "Thanks." He shot them his multi-million dollar smile that usually made anybody feel that everything is going to be just cool. Doesn't change the fact that it was the truest, most broken smile he has ever given since the Human Chess game. And then, he left.
Sinead was giving Hamilton an odd look. "What?" Hamilton demanded, taking his seat. He raised an eyebrow at her.
"What happened to 'I'm Hamilton Holt and I'm not good with feelings and being sensitive'?" she said, calmly sipping her glass of orange juice. She looked at him, her expression one of patience.
Hamilton rolled his eyes at her. "It flew out the window when it grew tired of tolerating the girl who has a nuclear temper."
Ned and Ted Starling stared at the two of them with a look of unhidden disgust. "Disgusting," they chorused, angrily chewing at their steak.
oooooOooooo
You're probably wondering,"Hey. What's with AngelicSpring and her weird disclaimer?"
Well, wonder no more! XD You see, I found this notebook filled with disclaimers that I forgot to use with The Start of Train. I want to do them justice. Haha.
QUESTION for the DAY:
Are you more of a: a) procrastinating person b) 'do what I can today' person c) a little of both
Let's see which wins, shall we? Haha.
Okay. So how was it? Were there any grammatical errors? Tell me about it by clicking on that li'l button called REVIEW. You know you wanna.
Read and Review.